Fool for a Fallen Time

I've written before of the significance of April 20th through April 30th; or, roughly, Hitler's birthday through the anniversary of his suicide in the bunker, beneath the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, in 1945. (Which coincidentally, falls on the ancient Satanic holiday known as Walpurgisnacht.) That was in an article published on this very website, a piece well-received by the editors. However, if one is to damn the month of April, one should really begin at the very beginning: April 1st, or April "Fool's Day."

The Fool, of course, is the sacred "Zero" or unnumbered card among 22 Major Arcana of the sacred tarot. I read tarot every night of the week for clients, and have for many years. The Fool begins the "Fool's Journey" through the 22 (11+11) sacred "Stations of the Cross" (to use a religious analogy), beginning with The Magician (numbered as 1), the originator of Action, the wielder of Power and Force; who can make his Will manifest in the environment, by bending reality to meet his needs. (Also, though, perhaps in a more dark or perverse sense, the Magician represents deception, pure and simple. Perhaps even only self-delusion.)

The Fool is the counterpart to the Divine Child of "The Sun," (numbered as nineteen) the New Dawn, or the rising of the morning light; Venus; a "New Heaven and a New Earth"; Cupid, even.

You get the picture.

Cupid, in the Major Arcana card of The Sun, rides a white stallion, much as the returned Christ, as avenger; the first horseman of the Apocalypse, and the tenth and final avatar of all-pervading Vishnu, who is called Kalki, in the Hindu cycle of the "yugas," the ages (our present age being the "Kali Yuga"); Kalki; who, like the returned Christ, is come in the last days to "Cleanse the world," is said to ride his white steed, Devadatta, carrying a flaming sword.

Cupid is love. The Sun precedes Trump 20 (10+10): "Judgement." We'll get to that, too. [1]

Very fitting. (It is not lost on the author that the current President of the United States is, likewise, a 'Trump.")

The Fool card is numbered as Zero. The circle, having no beginning and end, is a convenient numerical stand-in for God: Alpha and Omega, the "First and the Last"; come, "...to judge the quick, and the dead." (Also, the ancient symbol of the Ourobourous, the serpent eating its own tail.)

The Quick and the Dead

"April Fool's Day" is the day, traditionally, when one picks up a telephone or some such communication device, and tells a plausible or monstrous fib, fobbing it off onto the listener as truth. It's a day, much like Halloween, of "tricks," even though it is conspicuously absent of treats.

And, of course, April is NO monthly time for treats of any kind.

Currently, the global pandemic known as the "Corona Virus," or "Covid-19," has done what the worst enemies of Western man and his society have always dreamed of doing: it has brought the world to a veritable stand-still. People are told to cower in their homes, avoid "close contact"; to "social distance." No one can be close, congregate to worship, gather for dinner, work, shop, go to the gym, or even make love in safety. The "fear vibration" that new age guru and conspirologist David Icke has often talked of, as the hidden frequency of occult change agents and manipulators behind the veil of illusion (that which we call workaday "reality ")--that vibration is wherein we are all, or mostly all, resonating at currently.

...And the end is nowhere in sight. Or so it seems. But, you can be certain of one thing: nothing is by accident. As the late Jim Marrs once observed, "You call me a conspiracy theorist? I'll call you an accident theorist."

The hardest hit country is said to be Italy, with thirteen thousand deaths and counting; Italy has been, seemingly, devastated [2]. The United States is now the global epicenter of the pandemic, with over three thousand recorded deaths [3] and climbing. New York is said to be the epicenter in the United States. We get daily briefings now from East Coast governors and medical big-wigs. Grocery shelves are emptied of supplies and food; the world economy is devastated, grinding to a halt; millions are out of work; life is in suspended animation, a state of sheer impending terror and gloom has descended, like a black cloak of night, across the face of the modern world.

We are waiting; we are waiting.

...but, for what?

The Fool's companion is The Sun. The Fool is numbered zero; The Sun numbered nineteen. Nineteen is, literally, nine and one, which equals ten. Ten is simply a zero and a one brought together; in other words, The Fool and The Magician; rebirth, the Beginning of a New Journey, Will Made Manifest; Power; but, also, Deception, Delusion, Trickery. A foolhardy knave, the Divine Child come riding in with the promise of a new tomorrow, seated upon his white horse. (But perhaps, also increasing deception on the part of the Powers That Be.)

Devadatta, the steed upon which Lord Kalki, (that last and all-consuming Agent of Apocalypse, who will signal the end of Kali Yuga and the beginning of Satya Yuga, a new "Golden Age"; the rebirth of the cycles of yuga-ages, culminating in the end of death)...is also a white horse.

The Aeon of Horus

It was in 1904, while on a trip to Cairo with wife and fellow medium Rose Kelly, that Aleister Crowley, the infamous black magician, through the aegis of the entity Aiwass, brought into being the Liber AL vel Legis [4], the "Book of the Law," the doctrinal underpinning behind his "Thelemic" religion, whose chief dictate is "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." Not speaking simply of unrestrained anarchic liberty, divorced from all sense of reason or responsibility, the term "Will" here should be interpreted as the true, divine "Will" of the Magician; His Will, in other words, made manifest

“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” —AL. I. 40.

“Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no

other shall say nay.” —AL. I. 42–3.

“Every man and every woman is a star.” —AL. I. 3.

Thus are laid bare the principle edicts of a divine New Age, the Aeon of Horus, oft-associated with the Age of Aquarius, the dawning of the previous ages--Piscean and paternal, matriarchal--having passed as assuredly as the previous yugas of the Hindu cycle of ages. But, as Nietzsche stated plainly, the Divine Child could not be born without the pangs of birth giving vent to a new, brutal order--"There is no birth without blood."

As it is stated in Liber AL: "I am a god ov War & ov Vengeance. Choose ye an island! Fortify it! Dung it about with enginry ov war!"

Liber AL vel Legis was transcribed 8,9, and 10 of April that year of 1904.

Death Rides a Pale Horse

In the Revelation of St. John the Divine, better known as just the Revelations to millions and millions of Christian believers, the First Horseman of the Apocalypse rides a white horse--much like the Divine Child of the Sun, heralding the birth of a new dawn.

He is an archer, holding a bow without an arrow, no projectile plunging into the future. His gore-slicked pathway of destruction has been provided by the Blood of the Martyrs. He is the triumphant Christ, returned with crown (corona) and carrying with him a basket of plague:

1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”

2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

Revelation 6:1-2 (NIV)

Alternately, he is interpreted as the Antichrist. He is almost universally interpreted as the bearer of PLAGUE. The White Rider opens the first of the legendary "Seven Seals," the fourth seal being opened by the rider of the "pale" horse--Mr. Death himself. His image, in the tarot, heralds change.

The White, Red, Black and "Pale" (how does one interpret that?) horsemen and their riders are given the power to kill with pestilence, war, famine and plague. The culmination of the Seals and their tribulations and tragedies is a massive holocaust wherein the "stars fall from the skies," and the earth is turned about--as a massive earthquake or explosion, perhaps nuclear, kills in a titanic wave of megadeath.

Perhaps the "fiery sword" of vengeance, of Lord Kalki, come to slay the unbeliever, the unrighteous; to "cleanse the world."

In Hindu Mythology: Vedic and Puranic (1900) by W.J. Wilkins [5]:

THE KALKI AVATĀRA: This incarnation, unlike those already described, has yet to be made. It is the hope of the Hindus, that he who has so frequently visited the earth to restore order and happiness will come yet again to inaugurate a reign of universal goodness, peace, and prosperity. When Vishnu in the form of Krishna reascended to heaven, the Fourth or Kāli Yuga commenced, which, as its name implies, is an age of strife and dissension. In the "Vishnu Purāna" the character of this age is vividly described in words that seem prophetic. At its termination Vishnu is expected to come again, bearing the name Kalki, to put an end to wickedness, and establish a kingdom of righteousness similar to the First or Kritā Yuga—the age of Truth. These four ages, in the same order and with similar characteristics, will again and again be experienced until the final end of all things shall come. The following extract from the "Vishnu Purāna" will give an idea of the evils of the present age, which Kalki is to remove:

"In Magadha, a sovereign named Viswasphatika will extirpate the Kshattriya race, elevate fishermen, barbarians, Brāhmans, and other castes to power; whilst Sudras, outcasts and barbarians will be masters of the Indus, Darvika, Chandrabhāgā, and Kashmir.

"The kings will be of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize the property of subjects, be of limited power, and will, for the most part, rapidly rise and fall; their lives will be short, their desires insatiable, and they will display but little piety. The people of various countries intermingling with them will follow their example; and the barbarians being powerful in the patronage of princes, whilst purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until the world shall be wholly depraved. Property alone will confer rank, wealth will be the only source of devotion, passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes, falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation, and women will be the objects merely of sensual gratification. Earth will be venerated only for its mineral treasures (i.e. no spot will be peculiarly sacred); the Brāhmanical thread will constitute a Brāhman; external types will be the only distinctions of the several orders of life, dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence, weakness will be the cause of dependence, menace and presumption will be the subterfuge for learning, liberality will be devotion, simple ablution will be purification (i.e. gifts will be made from the impulse of ordinary feeling, not in connection with religious rites or as an act of devotion, and ablution will be performed for pleasure or comfort, not religiously with prescribed ceremonies and prayers). Mutual assent will be marriage, fine clothes will be dignity, and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring. The people, unable to bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge among the valleys, and be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fruits, flowers, and leaves; their only covering will be the bark of trees, and they will be exposed to cold and wind, and sun and rain. No man's life will exceed three-and-twenty years. Thus in the Kāli Age shall decay flourish, until the human race approaches annihilation.

"When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kāli Age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahmā, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon the earth. He will be born in the family of Vishnuyasas, an eminent Brāhman of Sambhal village, as Kalki, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the Mlechchhas (outcasts), thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then re-establish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kāli Age shall be awakened and be made pellucid as crystal. The men who are changed in virtue of that particular time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Kritā Age, or Age of Purity."

In the descriptions of Kalki, and in pictures, he is represented as a white man riding upon or bowing down before a white horse, and with a sword in his hand: he is the purifier of the present degenerate age, and the restorer of purity and goodness.

Judgment, the Major Arcana card preceded by The Sun, is numbered twenty (can be written: 2 x 10, or, 10+10). The double ones are significant, in that the number eleven is thought to represent a huge numerical point of power, and double elevens, when seen by the initiate, are said to herald the "thinning of the veil"; or, a time when the seer can pierce the illusion of reality, to truly get a glimpse of what mechanism lies just beyond, pulling the levers of our world. The Twin Towers of "911," the twin pillars of Solomon's Temple; the twin pillars Samson pulled down to bring the Philistines to their deserved end--remember that the Universe is mathematical; numbers and equations rule time and space as they are perceived to exist.

The numbers one and ten in numerology not only simply equate a cosmic "one," but ten accompanies power in so much as, out of the numerical zero emerges the individuated ONE--the Magician reborn to enact His will. The Will of God, perhaps? I only ask a question.

The tenth card in the Major Arcana is the "Wheel of Fortune"; interpretatively, it can herald success and good fortune--but, like a roulette wheel, it can turn on a dime, rendering what was formerly good to that which is rotten; or even, predestined, as to the rotting of a gangrenous limb that must be amputated. It is a perfectly round conception as a wheel, having no beginning and no end (Alpha, Omega), beyond the scope and understanding of time, as the Ourobourous eating its own tail. It is further curious to note that modern computers operate on "binary"; that is, an endless succession of zeros and ones to store and retrieve information. EVERYTHING in our universe is, finally, broken down into mathematical principles. One, zero, ten...the Fool, the Magician walking hand-in-hand around the Wheel of Time, journeying with the Will, toward that which is inexorable and thus predestined.

Conclusion

There are some pieces of writing I find very difficult to finish. The original thought and impetus behind the piece seems to vanish. In this case, it is crumbling into two individual parts. The numerology of Armageddon, the idea of a "redemptive cleansing" via a returning and very angry messiah-like character (but, if he kill with such impunity, can he be said to be holy?); the idea of a "Foolish Rebirth"; the mathematics of the Universe, and the manner in which "As Above, So Below" truly does represent a Macro cosmic Will revealed and foretold in the small, icon-like patterns of the images on a deck of cards.

In 2001, shortly after the September 11th terror attack that felled the world Trade Center (Twin Towers, a giant "eleven," Castor and Pollux, twin pillars of Masonic and Biblical lore), myself and a group of friends, having a seance, were told by the presumptive spirit that a further "terror attack" would involve a "poisoning of the food supply." I'm not sure how, in light of events NINETEEN years later, to interpret that. The Wuhan, China, "wet market" has been blamed as the source of the Corona virus infection. All I have heard the past two days is about a possible "meat shortage," or food supply chain breakdown, due to the closing of important meat-packing plants; ostensibly, due to infections of the Corona virus disease, Covid-19. What is going on here? Who can say?

The world is due for some type of catastrophic awakening, a Fool setting forth on the Fool's Journey, in this Year of Our Lord 2020. In the Tarot Major Arcana, the Judgement card is numbered twenty. How fitting. After the brutal Judgement, a card depicting Gabriel blowing the Trump of Judgement to awaken the dead, to begin a new cycle (yuga), a New Age...and that twenty could simply be read as Two and Zero...the trump numbered two in the arcana is the High Priestess, Pope Joan, the Dianac, female connection to Divine Will, the Goddess of the Crescent Moon.

In Islam, the crescent moon is symbolized by the star. Scythe-like, this scimitar promises, to the believer, that soon the sacred Imam Mahdi will avenge the Martyrs, and cleanse the world of the Infidel.

Again, the Avenger foretold in cryptic symbols, metaphoric language; As Above, So Below. It cannot be lost on us that the present United States President--a man given increasingly to bizarre, inexplicable utterances and petulant tirades--own a 'Trump Tower." The hallmark of suddenly, inexplicable chaos and unforeseen acts of God, in the Major Arcana, is the "Tower Trump."

Kalki. The First Horseman, the Divine Archer. The Pale Horse Called Death.

Plague, famine. Wars and rumors and rumors of wars. Horus, Cupid, the Divine Child rides his white steed into the Dawn of New Order. The Child equates the Divine Fool.

The Journey of the Fool.

In a Fallen Time.

***

Notes.

[1] Our understanding of the tarot has largely been informed by A.E. Waite's most excellent classic The Pictorial Key to the Tarot. (Marion: Zem Books. 2019.)

[2]The death toll in Italy, as it stands now, seems to be over twenty-six thousand.

[3] As of April 28th, 2020, the number of recorded deaths from Covid-19 in the United States alone, is said to exceed 50,000, with another million infected, making for a third of all cases on Planet Earth.

[4] Liber AL vel Legis is freely available online from various websites.

[5] Found at the Internet Sacred Texts Archive (https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/hmvp/index.htm).

The Pictorial Key to the Tarot by A.E. Waite